Rejected…

Ah, the other side of the coin this time!

I mentioned in a recent post that I was waiting to hear about a show I had entered that starts next month and runs into April. Well, I heard! This particular show was one I had entered and been accepted into before but there was a different judge, different work submitted and a different result this time. Never assume something is a given just because it’s happened before! That is one lesson I learned early on. Even with the same judge and the same submissions I think you could get different results if the judging took place on a different day! It’s such a subjective process and so many things can influence a judges decision. Having judged some shows I know that to be true! Which helps make most rejections fairly easy to deal with.

Setting yourself up for possible rejection by entering shows & competitions is an interesting process. Being excited enough about a show to even bother filling out the paper work, prepare the images, and pay the entry fees is usually the biggest hurdle for me. I will start off with maybe six to eight shows each month I think I’d like to do and by the time I re-read the instructions, criteria and timelines I normally eliminate 2/3rds of them before I even get started. Lots of things sound good until it’s time to put forth the work and open yourself up to the possibility of either getting rejected or the thought of being accepted (is the work available and physically ready to hang? if it’s local am I available on the drop off/pick up days? do I want to pay the shipping fees there & back if it’s out of town? will this help my career/look good on my resume?) . For several years I entered shows “because I always had”, because they were close, because they were free to enter…lots of reasons that really didn’t propel me in the direction I want to go. I need to spend my time & energy moving forward, not just running around in the same circle year after year!

Now I better go check the due dates for the next few entries I want to submit…

1 Comment

Lynne,
I’ve just started entering my photographs into shows. I use to enter my watercolors and so I know a lttle about the process, but it sounds like you’ve definetly been thru this a few times. Good Luck
peace n abundance
CheyAnne
ps thanks for the wonderful comment about my style